This isn't real

Lover's oath (1)

"...Yes." Zhongli looked at Childe finally. But...his eyes were different. No longer amber gold seas that one could get lost into but liquid gold eyes that seemed to practically be dripping from their sockets with 2 diamond shaped slits for pupils.

"Your eyes...they're-" -C

"Ugly?" -Z

"No...they're the most beautiful pair I've ever seen..." -C

"What? You don't hate them?" -Z

"No...why would I?" Childe just smiled as he pulled Zhongli onto his lap. Zhongli just looked away again, flustered instead of scared this time.

"There's more." Zhongli took off his shirt to make things easier for himself.

"What?" -C

Almost instantly, a fourteen foot tail protruded from his bare back, with shiny black scales and cor lapis spikes sticking out that glowed ever so slightly in the dim room. The end of the tail was a tuft of fur the same amber gold color as the tips of his hair and just as fluffy. It started to wag up and down a bit, tickling the Snezhnayan's calves. Next were his arms, which also had the same scales but, along his arms were veins of what looked like gold in place of where blood should have been. The scales reached all the way to his neck and shoulder blades and his fingers were pulsating with his blood. His teeth had sharpened into small fangs and his tongue forked. Zhongli tugged at the hair ornament that secured his hair. Once it was free from the tight constraints of the piece of jewelry, his hair cascaded down his back and a few locks got caught on his shoulders. The usual golden amber ends started to glow and float a little in the dim room.

"Oh my Tsaritsa..." Childe's eyes widened at the beautiful archon on his lap. He grabbed a scaled arm, expecting it to be cold, but it was just as soft and warm as his mortal arm.

"I-Is it weird?" Zhongli pushed aside a floating lock of hair behind his ear and avoided eye contact again, clearly terrified of the other's thoughts on this.

"No...I don't even have words to describe how beautiful you look..." Childe knew he sounded corny but he didn't care. He wanted to let this man know how much he cares for him and how much it would mean to lose him. When Childe broke out of his thoughts, he saw trails of tears running down Zhongli's face. Well, more like gold running down his face, much to his surprise. Instinctively, he wiped them away with his hand and Zhongli nuzzled against it, a soft purr escaping his lips. Childe just laughed it off, much to the brunette's embarrassment, and they fell asleep in each other's embrace once more.

In the weeks that followed, Zhongli's family had become more accepting towards Childe but still acted as if he could go into his delusion form and hurt their precious prince. Lumine had remained distant from everyone. She would only be seen at meal times and sometimes groping around the hallways. But Childe swore he heard her muttering. About what, he didn't know but it definitely was getting concerning.

"He reminds you of her, doesn't he?" Noelle was speaking in a hushed voice to Zhongli. "Is that why you feel more comfortable around him than most?"

"I suppose you're correct. He did accept me as an archon, similar to her. Yet it feels different. Like all three of them in one." -Z

"That is it. Just, no tentacles and trying to murder you." Noelle chuckled, a small smirk on her face. They continued talking for a bit but unbeknownst to them, someone had eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Is he already dating someone? If so, it's a girl. But who?" Lumine was grinning from ear to ear as she just found a way to tear both of them apart from each other. All she needed was to get Childe by himself and convince him that Zhongli was cheating on him with this girl in Liyue or he was in love with someone else. And then he would still be married to Zhongli but he would love her instead. Lumine knew her plan was foolproof. There was no way anything could go wrong, right?

"Love." Childe walked outside to the garden and saw Zhongli laying down in a patch of glaze lilies. He lifted his head when Childe called out to him.

"Yes?" Zhongli's half lidded eyes told Childe that he was probably asleep before this.

"You said you wanted to meet here?" He laid down next to the brunette, running his fingers through Zhonglis's hair.

"Yes...I want to tell you about the war." Zhongli was whispering at this point.

"A-Are you sure?" This was new. Childe already told Zhongli about his very uninteresting past, falling into the abyss, given to the Tsaritsa by his birth parents in an attempt to fix him, reunited with his siblings and now the Fatui heir, but Zhongli had told Childe multiple times that he had no intention of telling him anything about his own life, specifically the war, which seemed to take up the majority of his life. In fact, he just reminded Childe yesterday that he had no interest in telling him and that he shouldn't worry. Yet here he was, sitting peacefully amongst the flowers, staring straight at him.

"Yes...You need to know anyway." -Z

"Well, feel free to leave out any details that are too sensitive." -C
"Alright, so..." -Z

"You're saying that you dated the Lord of Vortex, Osial, Azhdaha which is technically your familiar and this girl called Guizhong who is the God of Dust..." -C

"Yes." -Z

"And then after you broke up, Osial and Azhdaha got together and Guizhong fell in love with Streetward Rambler or, as you call her, Madame Ping..." -C

"Yes." -Z

"And then you found Xiao, adopted Ganyu, Hu Tao and Qiqi and you and Guizhong technically became parents..." -C

"Yes." -Z

"And then Xiao got kidnapped, archon war, gave away Ganyu to Cloud Retainer and Hu Tao to mortals and took away all three of their memories, Qiqi was killed, Osial and Azhdaha got corrupted, sealed Azhdaha, fought tentacle parasites, fought Osial, got raped during the Osial battle, found Xiao again and four other yakshas, got Ganyu back, Qiqi got revived by this guy called Baizhu who is apparently very creepy, Guizhong dies, locked yourself in Liyue and now you have this marriage?" -C

"Yes..." -Z

Childe wished that he said something other than yes. This was way worse than his own child(e)hood. It must be tough for all those years, having to see the ones he loves suffer. Instinct took over him and his hand began to rub Zhongli's back reassuringly.

"Can you describe her to me?" -C

"Who?" -Z

"Guizhong." -C

"Well, she had dirty blonde hair and blue highlights, she usually teased both me and Ping...and... I can't remember." Zhongli looked away, dejected. It was like he failed a war, which Childe guessed was almost never.

"Do you...have amnesia or some form of memory loss?" Childe remembered the many pauses he took while reciting his story.

"Baizhu told me I didn't. I guess it's just the effect of living for so long that you forget things like wallets, medicine...and her face." -Z

The two just sat in the glaze lilies and it wasn't long before both were fast asleep in each other's arms. Lumine saw them and decided that as soon as the wedding date was confirmed, she would ruin everything. If not, her chance of ever getting with the person she desired since she was a little girl would disappear in a blink of an eye.

Because Ningguang saw how quickly Snezhnaya became Zhongli's second home, she had shifted the date sooner than two years. Tsaritsa and her were yet to confirm the date but they said that it was within the year. But the decision needed to be made quickly as it was already October.

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